South Florida and the collector car world at large are eagerly anticipating the newest event in the automotive world. For four days, February 29 to March 3, the first-ever ModaMiami will bring car culture to the mainstream with special events, ranging from the most spectacular collection of rare cars and exclusive drive activities to meals presented by celebrity chefs.
It will also include two days of auctions by RM Sotheby’s scheduled for March 1 and 2. The auction house has announced 119 motor vehicle lots, spanning 112 years from 1911 to 2023.
“We’ve been holding auctions in Florida for nearly 30 years, but in 2022, we ventured into something new by hosting our first ‘pop-up’ auction in downtown Miami, which turned out to be a massive success,” said Rob Myers, CEO & Chairman of RM Sotheby’s. “Fast forward to today, and we’re taking it to the next level, organizing an event on a scale unlike anything we’ve previously attempted.
“In collaboration with Moda Events, our goal was to create the premier car show on the East Coast…. The diversity of cars we’re offering matches the variety you’d see on the showfield, from the fastest hypercars to American classics.”
The “diversity” on offer includes a 2018 Bugatti Chiron, valued at $3.2 to $3.8 million, to Hollywood-famous iconic aeroplanes. Leading this pack, however, is a breath-taking 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Coupe by Vignale, valued at $4.5 to $5 million,
According to authoritative such as Alan C. Boe and Marcel Massini, this Ferrari 250 Europa Coupe by Vignale with chassis number 0295 EU is the very first 250 Europa built. Also, this car is one of just three 250 Europa coupes that were bodied by Vignale.
Most importantly, however, this car must be considered a prototypical example of a 3-litre grand touring Ferrari, as it was one of just two that received the 3-litre Colombo 250 V-12. The following 20 examples were fitted with a Lampredi-designed engine. Thus, essentially, it is the progenitor of the venerable 250 GT, Ferrari’s most celebrated and successful platform.
A one-off, 0295 EU was clothed in one of Giovanni Michelotti’s more intriguing designs, showing a clear influence from the Vignale-bodied 340 Mexicos that ran the Carrera Panamericana, while featuring intricate finishing in the half-chromed fender protuberances, and chrome-moulded side scallops painted in a complementary two-tone colour scheme. The large egg-crate grille, single arcing belt line, and the high-waisted low-roof architecture combined to result in a muscular brute of a stance, emanating power and style.
This 250 Europa was publicly unveiled by Ferrari in October 1953 at the Paris Salon. The coachwork was finished in an arresting shade of Rosso Rubino, with a very dark hue of Amaranto red in the distinctive coves, nearly approaching black.
This luxuriously appointed road car represented Maranello’s strongest step yet toward a consistent model line, as the 250 would soon assume full production in the Pinin Farina-bodied 250 Europas and Europa GTs – the segue to the true 250 GT Coupes and Cabriolets that appeared in 1956 and 1957.
Ferrari’s first phase of legitimate production automobiles would eventually extend all the way to the 250 GT/L Lusso of the mid-1960s. On the way, offering some of history’s most compelling models along the way, including the dual-use Tour de France Berlinetta and California Spider, and the competition-specified Testa Rossa and GTO race cars.
Following its presentation at the 1953 Paris Salon, this fascinating Europa was sold to its first owner, Robert Teakle of Detroit, Michigan. Over the next 18 years, the Ferrari passed through the care of seven additional American owners before being acquired in August 1971 by Gilbert Walton of Danville, California.
Walton’s possession of the car lasted 37 years, during which the Europa was mostly stored in preparation for a restoration. Some work began in the mid-1980s, but when Walton offered the car for sale in 2008, it was still in a partially disassembled state.
The Ferrari was purchased by Brian Hoyt, the well-known proprietor of Perfect Reflections in Hayward, California, one of the vintage Ferrari niche’s most respected restoration concerns. Upon completion of a masterful five-year restoration, the Europa was sold to a respected collector of important vintage Ferraris based in Kentucky, who wasted no time in exhibiting the magnificent Europa on the show scene, and winning multiple awards.
In April 2016 the Europa was certified by Ferrari Classiche with a Red Book that demonstrates the continued presence of the numbers-matching chassis, engine, and coachwork. The gearbox and rear differential have been replaced with correct-type components stamped by Ferrari Classiche, further assuring the car is presented with the highest possible level of authenticity.
Ideal for enjoyment on major vintage touring events and rallies, or presentation at world-class concours d’elegance, this outstanding show-awarded Europa is an important cornerstone of the 250 GT legend. Bona fide Maranello show cars presented by the manufacturer in period are only seldom offered in public, and this extremely special coachbuilt example would make a crowning acquisition for any connoisseur of significant 1950s Ferraris.
